A Terrible Tragedy
by obsessedwithharrypotter
Summary: My tribute to the Westroads shooting, somehow putting Harry and Ginny in the midst of it.I live in Omaha.  This is my outlet.  Let me know what you think.


Harry and Ginny slowly meandered around the department store "Von Mar" in Omaha, Nebraska, as the two continued their two-month journey around the world. It was early December and their trip was almost finished, but with Christmas being so close, Ginny wanted to do a little shopping.

"You said just a little!" Harry said loudly as Ginny piled yet another shirt she wanted into his arms. "And this isn't as a gift! This is for you!"

"Well, I thought I should treat myself. Besides, this is fun, and you know it."

"Yes, Ginny, I absolutely love following you around and acting as your shopping cart. It's what I always wanted to do with my life."

She giggled lightly before throwing yet another article of clothing into his arms, this time removing his chin from view. At the sight on him struggling, Ginny got close and whispered, "If you're having so much trouble, why don't you just take your wand out?"

"Haha, very funny. I'd like to see you do it."

"You never know." And with a wink she said in a barely audible voice, "I just might later."

As the two of them exchanged glances, a sudden ringing hit their ears and then stopped. Before they could connect the sound to any action, two more shots rang out a floor above them. Immediately Harry dropped his arms load and grabbed Ginny's arm, dragging her behind a clothing rack.

The escalator, which ran up a whole in the ceiling for three floors, suddenly was the loudest thing in the room.

"Ginny, we need to get out of here."

"Yeah, but how?" she whispered, fear in her voice.

"Stay here."

"Yeah right!" she whispered fiercely.

Three more shots rang out, this time closer to the escalator.

"I'm not just thinking about you!" he said with anger running through his voice and his eyes glancing down to her belly.

Resigned, Ginny stood up, crouched down, and quickly ran for the nearest dressing room. When Harry heard a door slam shut, satisfied, he stood up.

Five more shots and a scream echoed above him, but this time Harry could see where the shots were coming from. A slinky 20-year-old man with shaggy hair and glasses stood at the top of the escalator and had stepped onto the moving stairs. Slowly, his face came into closer view. Harry recognized him as the man who'd served Ginny and himself a quick lunch at McDonalds the afternoon before. The man could obviously see Harry, but hadn't raised his gun.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, his wand in his hand but not raised it.

The man had reached the end of the escalator and just stepped out onto the same floor as Harry.

"I'm going out in style," He said, his voice emotionless.

"It doesn't have to be like this" Harry said, and suddenly the rifle was pointed at his head and a single shot rang through the stillness.

Echo's of screams in the surrounding dressing rooms followed, and Harry was surprised to be able to still hear them. Instinctively, he'd raised his wand and blocked the bullet.

The shooter whispered "Now I've seen everything," And turned the gun on himself, placing it in his mouth and pulling the trigger.

Closing his eyes, Harry allowed this last shot to echo in his ears. A single tear fell from his eyes before he opened them again, revealing the terrible scene in front of him.

The silence around him was strangely mocked by the song "silent night" playing quietly from the speakers above him.

He'd heard the approaching footsteps before he'd seen them, and so quickly hid behind a clothes rack in the corner, hoping to keep from starling anyone too much from his actions. The officers busted up the dressing rooms and Harry's hiding spot and raced them to the parking lot, hands raised into the air.

"We'd seen him before, Ginny" Harry said once they'd been released beyond the police area. "At lunch the other day. He took our money. He seemed like a nice kid."

Ginny was silent, but encased her hand within his and leaned her tear stricken face against his shoulder, the mean December wind whipping her hair around his face as he looked on at people being removed from the building into numerous ambulances, the people around them praying to God that every thing would just be OK.

-My reaction to December 5th's shootings at Westroads Mall in Omaha Nebraska, my hometown. This kid at McDonalds served me like 5 times. He always seemed like a sweet kid.

-My prayers and thoughts are with those families and those struggling for life at this moment. I'm just praying to God no one I know was in there. They haven't released names yet.


End file.
